Every new year brings with it the opportunity to usher in fresh ideas and trends as well as the chance to leave behind things that really shouldn’t have occurred in the first place.
This includes fashion and beauty trends that – whether in hindsight or not – were downright questionable and criminal.
While to 2015’s credit, there was much to appreciate, applaud and accept, some things really do need to be dragged across the mud. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do right now.
Low-cut Dresses
It’s one thing to dress the way you please and being a badass about it. It’s completely a whole different thing when badass turns to tacky. Showing cleavage has been a thing since the beginning of time but I think modern day has taken this a little too far. With this kind of dress you might as well go topless if I’m honest with you. What’s worse, I’ve seen some people trying to pull this off without a bra on. No, No, No. This has to stop. Sagging in a dress that leaves nothing to the imagination is a bad combo. Kill this dress off altogether, 2016, and never resurrect it again.
Kylie Jenner Lips
To all my fellow females, unless you’ve been born with fuller lips or, like Kylie Jenner, have access to enormous amount of money that can get you the finest plastic surgery and team of professional make-up artists, stay the hell away from this obsession. While I’m very happy that big lips are now desirable more than ever (although you should be happy with what you have), what I’m not happy with is the amount of beauty companies and figures trying to sell this idea that lip kits or plastic surgery is the answer to getting them. Hopefully in 2016 the women of this world are taught to work with what they have and learn to love it. Enhance your assets, girls, don’t change it because of fad trends.
Cultural Appropriation
Cultural appropriation is not right. At all. I know that for some of us we are simply celebrating and showing homage to other cultures, which is fine. But when you’re clearly turning something that is culturally important to a race of people into a fashion accessory, yeah, that’s when you’ve messed up. While cultural appropriation has been going on longer than one single year, 2015 really exposed the severity of it. The amount of times regular peeps and celebs have let me down in regards to this was disturbing to say the least. You’d think it would be easy to understand and respect.
Coachella was when it really highlighted just how many believe cultural appropriation and fashion are muturally exclusive. I hope that this year we learn from it and grow as a more educated and respectable society.
PJ Sweatpants
Not going to lie, turning sweatpants into something more dressy and put together isn’t a bad idea at all. In fact, I think for most of us it’s very much welcoming. Going out with PJ sweatpants and actually looking fashionable is a dream come true for the lazy ones amongst us. So what’s the problem? Well the problem lies with how much the fashion world is overdoing it now. From celebs to Old Navy to Calvin Klein to Loft, a new version of this style just seems to come out left, right and centre. This starts to defeat the purpose of the lazy look by making it a little too overbearing. Time for something new again and maybe this time we don’t overdo it?
Waist Training
Again, just like the obsession with fuller lips, this is something else that is selling many women false dreams. If you’re born with naturally voluptuous curves, good for you. If not, still good for you. But waist training? What the hell is that? So you’re telling me I’m supposed to wear something that looks like a corset around my waist all day, even if it’s actually harmful to and uncomfortable for my body, just to somehow mould my already grown body into something that it isn’t? No thanks. I’m happy with what I have and you should be too. Don’t let any Kardashian (especially a Kardashian) coerce you into buying or picking up nasty habits that will NOT give you sudden curves or big lips, contrary to what is being said.
Bad Contouring
It’s 2016, can we finally learn that blending is key to good contour? If you’re going to go all out with the bronzer, blusher and highlighter trio effect, please invest in good and appropriate brushes that won’t leave you looking like you drew shapes on your face for the fun of it. The worst of them is this obsession of contouring one’s boobs. Again and again, why must we deceive ourselves into thinking that we have something that we don’t? Okay, you want big boobs? Stuff them then. Get plastic surgery. If you’re really that keen, just go for an option that won’t cause you to be the butt of an embarrassing joke all year long (sorry Kylie Jenner). If, after all of my warnings, you still want to try your hand at boob contouring, then blend that sh*t till your hands fall off. Seriously.
Sheer Dresses
Experimental, flamboyant sheer dresses are an odd one. They’re selective more than anything. For example, if you’re a celebrity and you’re bound for the red carpet, maybe I could see you pulling this off. Even then it could go horribly wrong. At times it seemed like every female celeb was facing off in the name of sheer dresses without realising all of them weren’t doing themselves any favours. This includes Beyonce, J-Lo and Kim K. These dresses are meant to show off your naked body while using detail to hide the bits that need to be hidden. While all of these ladies certainly showed off their lovely bodies, it came across more tacky than anything else. Not every bold fashion statement is going to take off and I really hope this is one of them. Sorry ladies, if Beyonce fails with the sheer dress, so do you. Just the law.
Hashtag #GloUpChallenge
Now this one really made me chuckle. It’s basically a hashtag that is meant to celebrate how much one has been blessed by the inevitability of puberty. Hence, to ‘glo up’. Going from a pretty basic looking teen girl/boy to now a good-looking, mature woman/man. But really, truly, this is a hashtag that showcases how bratty and arrogant people can get about their looks. It’s a vanity war. It’s to put down people who’ve yet to ‘glo up’ while elevating those who have on a pedastal of complete beauty. It’s ironic because while the hashtag was designed to celebrate beauty in age, what it actually did was expose the ugliness in conceit and pigheadedness. Maybe this year we’ll stop giving people reason to show their ugly sides, starting with this hashtag.
That concludes the fashion and beauty trends that I believe should stay in 2015. I’m sure I’ve missed out on a few things, and I’m also sure I’ve mentioned things that some of you may not agree with.
Hopefully in 2016 we can all shake our hands on the things that need to be kicked out with immediate effect so that the shade levels can be kept at moderate levels. How about that, eh?